Broken Mirrors
by daleksigma
Summary: "We're not so different!" Missy told the Doctor. What if she was right? What if, in one of an infinite number of parallel universes, it was the Master who ran from Gallifrey with a TARDIS and lived the life of the Doctor? It would be dangerous if the Doctor happened to stumble upon such a universe...
1. Chapter 1

Notes:

Requested by Bighead98. Set between Last Christmas and The Magician's Apprentice.

* * *

The TARDIS was silent but for a faint hum. The usually noisy console room seemed to have allowed a moment of silence to appreciate the momentousness of this particular journey. The Doctor watched as the time rotor finally eased to a stop, then looked at his companion.

Clara Oswald, bright eyed and breathless, looked back at him. A teacher off with him for the Christmas Holidays—or indefinitely. Indefinitely was better.

"We've arrived," he whispered.

"So we have," she whispered. "Why are we whispering?"

"I though it—added to the mood," he said, resuming his normal tone of voice. "We've arrived somewhere. The question is, where? The TARDIS is confused. She's not used to Gallifrey being out of its normal time and place. Plays havoc with the sensors."

He squinted at the readings. He'd sounded rather more confident than he felt, mentioning Gallifrey so casually. A hyperjump randomly opening to a parallel pocket universe was a rare occurrence, but not necessarily a sign that Gallifrey was on the other side.

The gravity was off, the atmospheric readings too. He could feel his hearts sinking.

"Doctor." Clara grabbed his arm.

He flinched at the sensation. "What?"

"If it isn't—Gallifrey, we'll keep looking. This isn't our only chance."

"Of course it isn't," the Doctor said, pulling away.

He knew that. He _knew_ that. But still, a crushing sense of disappointment was smothering him. Clara's words were far more comforting than he'd ever be willing to admit.

He continued examining the readings, but there was nothing. Nothing that could indicate that this was his home planet.

"Is it Gallifrey?" Clara asked gently.

The Doctor shook his head and turned away. "No, it isn't."

There was silence in the TARDIS.

"Should we go back?" Clara asked finally. "It's fine with me, if you want to—"

The Doctor snapped his head up. "Where's your sense of adventure? We've gone through a hyperjump into a parallel universe. There could be anything in here. Another you. Another—"

The words _another Danny_ hung heavily in the air.

Clara was first to recover. "Another you," she said.

The Doctor shook his head. "Impossible. Time Lords don't have copies in parallel universes. The paradoxes that would be created if we met our own copies would overwhelm the universe."

"Oh, c'mon. How do you know you won't meet another Doctor out there?"

"I just do."

Clara laughed at his seriousness. "Or maybe you just think you're too good to have a double. Ego. All I'm sayin'."

"I am unique!" He pulled open the doors. A blank white wall greeted him. A corridor. How—ordinary. "There can't be another—"

"Ah, I didn't see you come in. My apologies. Welcome!" A slightly heavy woman in a mustard yellow jumper rushed towards them and grasped first Clara's and then the Doctor's hand in a crushing handshake.

The Doctor stared at her.

The woman checked her watch. "You are, however, slightly early. It's no problem, of course. The Director is waiting to meet you."

She spoke to Clara as if the Doctor weren't there.

"Ah, of course!" Clara said. "Lead on."

She and the Doctor exchanged a glance behind the woman's back as they were led through a series of empty white corridors. Eventually, the empty whiteness opened into a conference room where a thin woman with a rather square jaw sat at the head of a polished black table. She rose when she saw Clara and extended a hand to shake.

"Welcome, Professor Oswald. I'm so grateful for you taking this meeting on such short notice."

"I guess we know who you are in this universe," the Doctor muttered into Clara's ear.

"It's really no problem," Clara said to the woman.

The woman frowned, but recovered within a moment. "Well, yes. Do sit. Janice, tea for me and mineral water for Professor Oswald."

The other woman left.

"Well, to business," the woman said. "I know you don't usually have time for this sort of thing—your secretary made that quite clear." She nodded at the Doctor, who scowled in reply. He wasn't some secretary! "But I think we have something that will interest you."

"Do go on then," Clara said, adopting a more imperious tone.

"Yes. Right." The woman handed Clara a datatablet. "Here we have the specs on the latest temporal fluctuations around earth."

The Doctor peered over Clara's shoulder, and absorbed the specs with interest. Some time traveler had been meddling quite a bit, it seemed. Not only that, but the biodata samples they'd collected around the last data point seemed…explicably familiar.

Clara, however, stared at the data uncomprehendingly. "And?"

"And look at these. There have been massive temporal interference patterns around all major alien incursions that you've reported to the Time Agency. The Daleks, the boneless, the Skovox Blitzer, even that panic with the Cybermen and the graveyards. Someone is interfering in our timeline, Professor Oswald."

"Yes, wow. You've done good work," Clara said.

"I was hoping for something a little more specific. How are we to catch this person?"

Clara looked straight at the Doctor. "Don't worry about it. I know exactly who it is."

The Doctor met Clara's gaze. He didn't believe her. There were no parallel versions of Time Lords. But—but that biodata was familiar. It _might_ be his own. And those were definitely all events he had been at—that was obviously how Clara had drawn that conclusion.

Either way, he couldn't take the chance that it was him. "If it is me, then we need to get out of this universe, now, or it is going to collapse."


	2. Chapter 2

"You?" the woman frowned at the Doctor. She looked at Clara. "What's he talking about?"

"It's his way of joking," Clara said apologetically. "He doesn't like when I say mysterious things."

"Yes, well, if we could continue. You said you knew who it was?"

"I do. You'll have to allow me to handle this on my own. It's a delicate matter." Back to imperious Clara. She did it so well.

"But—we must know who it is. We've been attempting to trace the biodata to a source, but other than the fact that it is unmistakably female and alien in nature, we have nothing to go on."

_Female?_ The Doctor tried to peer over Clara's shoulder at the datatablet again, but the woman gave him a nasty look, so he desisted. A female version of him wasn't inconceivable, he supposed. It was bound to happen once in a while in an infinite number of parallel universes.

"I will have my office send you more information," Clara said shortly. She stood up. "Good day."

The woman grudgingly shook Clara's hand, and allowed them to leave the conference room without another word.

In the corridor, Clara giggled. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her.

"You, as woman." She giggled some more. "C'mon Doctor, imagine it. It's funny."

"I am imagining it."

"No, imagine you. As a woman. You'd kill yourself in high heels."

The Doctor shook his head. "Why is that funny?"

That was when she careened into the blue Police Box parked in the middle of the corridor. She was laughing so hard she didn't see it, and by the time she had, she was falling towards the floor. The Doctor caught her and set her back on her feet.

"Thanks," she said. "Even if you have no sense of humor."

"I have a sense of humor, but not for things that aren't funny!"

"Yeah, okay." Clara leaned against the blue box. "So why did we have to get back to the TARDIS so quickly, anyway? Why is the universe going to explode?"

The Doctor took a step back. "Clara, get away from it."

"Get away from—"

"The Police Box. That isn't my TARDIS."

Clara jumped back. "Then whose—"

The door creaked open and a woman stepped out. She wore a floor-length purple skirt with a ruffled jacket. Her hair was pinned up underneath a hat adorned with fruit.

She stood in the doorway of the box, staring at the Doctor.

The Doctor stared back at her.

Of all the people who could have stepped out of a TARDIS that was stuck as blue police box, the Master was last he would have expected.


	3. Chapter 3

_Missy_

Traveling alone was such a miserable experience. Missy leaned against the TARDIS console and watched the time rotor go up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

Well, maybe she wouldn't have to travel alone for long. She'd caught a signal—an impossible, far off signal. A Time Lord, another living Time Lord, waltzing around the center of London. After the Doctor had managed to somehow find his way back to earth and turn all the dead into Cybermen, she had a feeling she knew who it was.

She threw open the TARDIS doors and looked out at the blank white walls of the infuriating Time Agency who had once employed her while she was exiled to earth by the Time Lords. So long ago. Before the War.

A man looked back at her. That man. Grey hair. Red lined jacket. The Doctor.

"You!" they shouted at once.

She hadn't expected to meet him again so soon—or, perhaps, ever.

She sized him up. There was something…off about him. "Well, they say I'm bananas, but even I wouldn't go waltzing through the Time Agency after killing most of its staff last time you were in London." She cast a glance at Clara. "And I thought Professor Oswald was supposed to be _undercover_ for you. Something to do with infiltrating the Time Agency? _Certainly_ not parading around beside you."

"What? No—that was—"

She stopped. He was a sputtering mess. Again, something seemed off. "What are you doing here?" she settled for.

"Looking for Gallifrey."

"Well, you aren't going to find it, love. Not in the middle of London. And I thought you said you knew how to get back through the Time Lock—or was that another of your teensy little fibettes?"

"My fibettes? You told _me _the wrong location. I believed you." His voice was pleading. "Why would you do that?"

Missy pulled out her sonic screwdriver and scanned him. Physically, he was the Doctor. But it was as if a different person had inhabited the shell of the mind. "Who are you?" she asked. "A duplicate? A meta-crisis? You know, the universe is in trouble enough with _one_ of you. I can barely keep you from breaking it apart as it is."

The Doctor looked relieved. "Parallel universe. Looking for Gallifrey—hyperjump—it's a reasonable misunderstanding."

Possibilities were blooming through Missy's mind. "But that's impossible. Time Lords don't have parallel versions."

"Then there _is_ another Doctor in this universe."

She nodded.

"Another Doctor who stole a TARDIS and ran away from Gallifrey."

_Oh no._ Missy's eyes widened. "No, love. I did those things."

xxXxx

_The Doctor_

A good Master. It was too much to take in. No. It wasn't. It was too much to believe. This was either a dream or he was being deceived. Missy was a master of deception, and he wouldn't put it past her to play good. To play him.

Clara stepped between them. "Not to break up your little hello session, but do either of your hear another TARDIS?"

The Doctor started. "It must be mine. Well, parallel me. Who I am not anxious to meet."

He had a strong suspicion that if the parallel Master had the same life as he did, the parallel universe version of him would have the same life as the Master. Between that and the possibility of annihilating the universe if they touched, he needed to get out of here, _now_.

"That would be a first," Missy muttered.

"What? Why?"

"Well, you do nothing but glory in destruction. What's another universe destroyed as long as it has two of your fingerprints on it?"

"But—"

A TARDIS materialized right beside Missy's, taking the shape of a grandfather clock. A thin black and red coated figure stepped out of the TARDIS. His intense glare locked onto the Doctor's eyes.

Then he smiled. The smile was far worse than the glare. The Doctor was struck with the conviction that this was not him. This was some other being. Some evil being.

This Doctor was this universe's Master.

"I detected some potential nasty paradoxes in this area," the parallel Doctor said. "And look who I found. A pleasure to meet you, Doctor."

"Nope, sorry. If you are who I think you are, I won't _enjoy_ meeting you."

His mind and his hearts were racing. He began to back away. He couldn't let the parallel Doctor touch him.

"Then the pleasure is all mine."

Before the Doctor could so much as flinch, his parallel self reached out and grabbed his hand.

There was a moment where their eyes met, glare to glare. And then everything disappeared in a flash of light.


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor tasted sand. He sat up, spat out a blob of sand, and looked around. A desolate landscape filled his view. Rocky and bare as far as the eye could see. No signs of life save for—

"Clara!" he jumped to his feet and rushed to her side.

She sat up and blinked in the pale sunlight. "You meant it when you said you didn't want to meet yourself. What happened?"

"We've moved. Temporary bubble universe, perhaps."

"Where's your evil twin?"

The Doctor looked around. That was a good question. He couldn't imagine both of them could have made the same trip, but he was sure that his parallel self was in the same universe. Their touch would have been enough to catapult both of them here, but also enough to repel them so they landed in different locations—maybe even different time zones.

The Doctor stared at the ground. "Around—probably."

"This is bad, isn't it?"

"Think of the worst thing you can imagine—this is worse. The end of the universe—universes." He shook his head. "We never should have tried that hyperjump."

"Well, it's too late now, isn't it, love?" A voice called from behind him. Missy stood there, wiping sand off of her jacket.

"Yes. It is too late." The Doctor stalked up to her. "And I want an explanation."

Missy threw her hands up. "This isn't _my_ fault."

"No, but you know why it happened."

She sighed theatrically. "Well, at a guess, you and, well, the other you—the real you—created some sort of paradox annihilation when you touched. You've landed all of us in a collapsing bubble universe while the real universe's energy drains out through the tear you've created. He's either dust in the air or somewhere else in time and space in this universe. One or the other." She paused for a moment before adding, "Good riddance. Though, we aren't going to last much longer."

"No," the Doctor said.

"What?"

"Not good riddance."

"No, I s'pose I'll miss him. I shouldn't, really." She played with an earring. "He was evil. But—well, I think you understand."

"Yes, I think I do. The only other Time Lord in the universe. The only one who can lead you to Gallifrey."

She looked slightly puzzled, but shrugged. "He was my oldest friend."

"Yes. That." The Doctor met her gaze. "Especially that."

It was like looking into a mirror. A mirror that was actually the Master.

He turned away, smiling. It easy to deal with the implications of having an evil version of himself floating around out in another universe—frankly, if he'd thought he had a parallel version, he would have expected it. But a good Master? He'd always said that the Master could become good—and here she was.

"If you two are done with your moment," Clara said, clearing her throat. "We've established that you're both not trying to kill anyone, and maybe I should be expecting a happy announcement soon, but that doesn't solve the problem. How do we get back to the TARDIS?"

They both looked at each other, as if expecting the other to have the answer.

Finally, the Doctor spoke. "I don't know. We'll think of something."

"At least we aren't in any danger at the moment. Imagine if the real you had come through at the same place." Missy smiled at the Doctor. "I like this version much better."

"That's not the real me!" The Doctor glared at her. "That's—"

"Okay, it's my version of you. I like your version better." She eyed him up.

"Well," he cleared his throat. "I like this universe's version of Missy better too."

"Can we stop with the flirting?" Clara cut in.

"I don't do flirting," the Doctor said instantly.

Clara raised an eyebrow. "Then what's this?"

"Talking. This is a unique opportunity," the Doctor insisted. "I've always known that the Master could use her brilliance for good, but this is the proof!"

"It's still flirting."

The Doctor looked to Missy for help, but she was silently laughing.

"It isn't funny!" he said.

Clara continued laughing.

Missy smiled at Clara and then put an arm around him. "That's quite sweet of you, never giving up hope on me. I gave up on you looonnngg ago. Oh, you don't know the endless frustration it's caused. Your offers to join you in ruling the universe are so tempting. If only I thought there was some good in you."

"Now you see that there is."

"Yes, there's a lot good to see." She ogled him again.

"Can we focus?" Clara cut in.

"Why? There's nothing dangerous here," the Doctor said. "We have no idea how to get back. What are we supposed to do?"

Clara pointed towards the nearest ridge. "I'd call that _dangerous_."

A Dalek was trundling over the top of the ridge. Its white lights flashed as it yelled. "IT IS THE MISTRESS! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Back! Back! Both of you!" The Doctor stumbled backwards, away from the ridge. "Go!"

The Dalek was advancing slowly over the uneven rocky surface of the planet, but that would change if it decided to, well, _el-le-vate_. Missy scrambled over the rocks ahead of him, and Clara slightly behind. Missy's face was twisted into a look of blinding hatred. It shocked the Doctor—not because he was unused to seeing it, but because he was so used to seeing it on his own face. Just how much of his life did this version of the Master have?

"Daleks," Missy drawled. "No end of trouble. I should try blowing them all up again sometime."

Her tone was much more lighthearted than her scowl allowed for.

"You know that's not the answer," the Doctor said as they darted into a small cave in the rock, out of sight of the Dalek.

Missy rolled her eyes from the shadows. "Yes, love, it's wonderful to say that. But at what point do you have to honor the lives of the victims first? Letting the Daleks live—millions have died because of it." Her voice was bitter, not like the Missy he knew. "They survive again and again, and every time, I lose everything."

The Doctor put his hands on her shoulders and met her eyes. "I know. But we can't become like them."

Missy laughed. "You're like a living version of my conscience."

"Yes, I am," the Doctor said quietly. "If only your counterpart from my universe would listen more."

Clara skidded into the cave behind them. "Doctor, we've got trouble."

They both looked up. A Weeping Angel was poised by the cave mouth. Clara stared unblinkingly at it. Missy and the Doctor did the same.

"Everyone back away," the Doctor said.

They ducked out of the cave and began an awkward journey over the rocks backwards.

"I'll scout ahead. You two keep your eyes on that." Missy turned around and climbed to the top of the nearest ridge. She was silent for a moment. Then said slowly, "Oh, love, your Clara's right. This is trouble."

"What is it?" the Doctor said.

"Well, let's see. There's a Cyberman—no, three Cybermen. Sontarans. A Silent or two, at least while I'm looking at them. Oh, and it looks like Yartek, leader of the alien Voord."

"He's dead."

"Apparently not."

"And you wanted to say it wasn't dangerous here," Clara said. "Doctor, how can your dead enemies be coming to life?"

The Doctor frowned. "The same way we ended up here. The other Doctor and I created a void in the timeline when we touched, and now everything is being sucked through, starting with anything I've impacted. The universe isn't just draining into the void—it's draining through this universe first." He backed up slightly. "Clara, keep your eyes on the Angel. I'm going to look."

He peered over the outcropping. Yes, they were old foes, alright. And more were materializing by the minute. "This is why Time Lords don't have parallel selves," he said. "The universe can't cope."

"Okay, yes, but how do we fix it?" Clara said. "Any ideas would be greatly appreciated now. My eyes are starting to—"

"Starting to—?" The Doctor turned around. Clara was nowhere to be seen. "Clara?"

He looked up. The angel had moved closer, but was still a ways off. Nowhere near close enough to send her back in time. He kept his gaze on it. "Clara? Clara!"

"She's gone, love," Missy said.

"Gone? Gone where? She can't just be gone."

"I don't think 'can't' is a word we should be using in this universe."

The Doctor glared at her. She moved her gaze to the Angel to keep it still.

He wouldn't believe it. He'd already messed up enough here. He couldn't lose Clara too.


	6. Chapter 6

"Clara! Clara!" The Doctor ran along the side of the ridge, scanning the grey rock for any sign of his companion. "Clara!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, and looked up to see Missy.

"I'm not sure whether to be touched or to push you off this ridge for being an idiot," she said. "Clara's gone, and the only way we're going to get her back is to find a way out of here."

"Clara!" The Doctor continued his run.

"Doctor."

"What?" The Doctor glared at her. "We're not going to find a way out of here. We're trapped. Your Doctor and his—"

"And that's my fault? I don't have him on a leash. Not that I would mind…"

"If you hadn't stopped me in that corridor, I would have gotten out of here before any of this happened!"

"Well, it did, love, and there's nothing we can do to change that. Now, there's a structure over there at the end of the ridge. We might be able to find some help there." She pointed up the rocky incline slightly.

The Doctor followed her finger. One of his hearts lost a beat. "That's—"

"I think it is."

"Omega," they both said together.

Antimatter universe. A similar situation, trapped in another universe with no way back. That universe had been controlled by the will of a madman. If a similar thing was happening here, they just might be able to trick him into releasing them to their own universes again. Revert the timeline. Save Clara.

It was a small hope, but it was the best they had.


	7. Chapter 7

"I don't understand," the Doctor said suddenly as they climbed.

"What?"

He took a moment to formulate his thought. "You're more me than that evil—than the parallel me is—"

"—so why didn't we annihilate when we touched?" Missy raised her eyebrows.

"No, not exactly. We don't have the same biodata. We couldn't annihilate. No, the question is, how can you have my life?"

"You want to know when our timelines split?"

"Exactly. Trenzalore? The Time War? All the way back on Gallifrey?"

"I left you on Gallifrey when I stole a TARDIS and ran away," Missy said. "You never did forgive me for that, did you?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Nothing to forgive. I did the same."

"Then it's safe to say we've been following parallel paths for quite some time, love."

The Doctor nodded at the ground.

"Then you must have destroyed Gallifrey too," she said quietly.

"Destroyed it and saved it," he said. "And still looking for it."

She looked at him blankly for a moment, but then turned away. "Yes, I s'pose. That too." She seemed to be hesitating, on the edge of saying something. But the moment passed, and they reached the front door of the compound before he could press her further.

The doors opened before the Doctor could touch the knob. "Someone's expecting us," he said.

Inside, the corridors were oval-shaped and the doorways glimmered with odd jewel-like coverings. Exactly as he remembered it. There was no question this was Omega's palace—lair?—compound?

"Plan?" Missy said.

"Nope," the Doctor said.

She smiled. "Who needs a plan when you're bananas?"

They advanced through the corridors. There was a prickling feeling at the back of the Doctor's neck.

"We're being watched," he murmured to Missy.

"I don't doubt—"

"Yes, Doctor. You are being watched," a voice boomed through the walls.

"You're—" the Doctor began indignantly.

"Not the voice of Omega," Missy said.

"No, Mistress. But he shares my form, and I share his mind."

The corridor opened in front of them into a stone chamber. It matched the one in the Doctor's memory down to the patterns of moss on the walls. But standing in the center was not Omega. It was as the Doctor had suspected. A vast mind stared out at him through the eyes of Dr. Walter Simeon. The Great Intelligence.


	8. Chapter 8

_"The Doctor and his Mistress friend  
In meeting soon will meet their end."_

The Great Intelligence strode towards the Doctor and Missy, his chin jutting out and his cold black eyes staring down at them. "You have thwarted me, time and time again. Even my revenge you snatched from my grasp. Not again."

"We will do it again, hon. However boring it gets." Missy yawned.

"This world is dying. Even as your own universes are sucked through the tear in the fabric of the world to fill it up, it empties more quickly. You, Doctor, will be the bringer of the final darkness. Both for your world, and for hers."

"Don't I get any credit?" Missy said. "I, apparently, delayed him enough that he couldn't escape before he met himself. A little bit of responsibility, then?"

She winked at the Doctor, who scowled. Point well made. This was him and him alone.

"You have committed a crime for which no credit needs to be given," the Intelligence said. "The whole universe screams out what you have done."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, but she wasn't looking at him. What had she done? He'd done quite a few things he wasn't proud of, but nothing, he liked to think, on that scale.

Missy paled. "I had—"

"It matters not." The Great Intelligence raised a hand for silence.

"She's right .Your theatrics are boring," the Doctor said. "I want to know only one thing: what have you done with Clara?"

_"You friend is gone, beyond repair.  
__Your only ending is despair."_

The Doctor refused to believe it. "We can fix this universe. Set everything back to the way it was before we arrived."

"And that, Doctor, I will not allow. The mind of Omega is mine, and this universe is mine through his will. And though his will, Doctor, I will destroy you."

The Doctor tensed, ready for an attack. Missy stepped in front of him.

And then everything went black. He was blind, completely blind. A burning sensation was spreading through his skull with an intense pressure. The voice of the Great Intelligence echoed through his mind. _"Die, Doctor, die."_

He dropped to his knees, clutching his head. He though his skull would burst into flames. It was agony, slowly pounding him into the void of unconsciousness, of death. He would almost welcome it. Anything but this pain.

"No," the Doctor said. "No. You won't."

He pushed back against the force of the mind with his own. He had to save Clara. He had to set this right.

The burning pain lessened slightly until it was no more than a throb. He focused harder. _GET OUT!_

He could almost see through the blackness the form taking shape in his mind. It was huge, wending its way through his skull. No, he would not allow it. He pushed back.

It crushed him. It was bigger, more powerful. He couldn't fight it off. He was so tired. So, so exhausted. He couldn't hold out—

A mind touched his own. So familiar, and yet so different.

_Keep fighting, love. I have your back._

He could feel Missy's cool hands on his temples. She was here, with him. Fighting back against the oppressive weight. It was lighter now, growing smaller by the second.

_Two heads are better than one, no?_

He almost smiled.

And then, with a final burst of determination, he threw the oppressive force from his mind.

He fell from his knees to the ground. His shoulder crashed into the hard floor, but he barely felt it.

_So similar…and yet so different._

She was still there. Missy. The Mistress.

_Yes, I'm here._

And her mind opened to him. All of her, her travels, so like his and yet still her own. Her love and loss and joy and sorrow. He could drink it all in and never be full.

But there was something else too. Guilt. Terrible—

_No. Don't look there. See the love. The love I had for you._

The guilt closed off from his reach, and he was bathed in warmth. They had, after being enemies for so long, never given up on each other. Somehow, stupidly, they had always hoped to find a way.

He opened his mind to her. The same love. All the times he had let her live, simply because he could not bear to destroy her. He had not been able to give up loving her.

Then he was lying on the ground. Missy was leaning over him, shaking him.

"I want one," she said quietly.

"One…what?" he sat up and looked around.

Simeon's body was collapsed against one of the stone walls.

"Of you. A good one. The you that my universe _should_ have had."

"Yeah, me too. Maybe you could come to my universe, when all this is through."

"Impossible. But then, they do say I'm bananas…"

The Great Intelligence was stirring.

"We need to get out of here." The Doctor struggled to get to his feet.

"No, Doctor." The Intelligence's voice once more boomed inside his head. "If you can combine your wills, I can too."

He raised a hand and figures began to appear around the Doctor and Missy. The cold-eyed Doctor who had shaken his hand in the corridor was the first to appear, his intense gaze spewing hatred at the Doctor. Then Missy—the Missy of the Doctor's universe. She threw her head back and laughed. They joined hands.

And the onslaught began again.


	9. Chapter 9

Why had he ever wanted to find Gallifrey, anyway? Surely it wasn't worth two universes draining down the open plughole of some dying pocket universe. It wasn't worth having his mind slowly crushed by the mind of his own parallel self.

There was so much hatred in that mind. So much bitterness. So much loneliness. And what scared him the most was that the mind crushing him was not alien. It was him. It was exactly the same. He hated, he was bitter, he'd been desperately lonely.

The same Doctor, different choices. That was important. That was what made him better. That was what made him different—he was not the same person.

And with that revelation, he was crushed back into the back of his mind so hard he nearly blacked out.

No. No, he wouldn't give in.

He wouldn't give in, because now he knew how to end this.

_I can end this_. Missy's voice was in his mind, coming to the same conclusion at the same moment.

A person is the sum of their memories, a Time Lord even more so. He was more like Missy than he was the evil Doctor. They shared the same memories, the same decisions, the same love.

But he shared the same biodata as the evil one crushing him. He could share the mind of his parallel counterpart, even for a second, and the annihilation would reverse. The timeline would revert and they would be thrown back into their own universes. Well, everyone except for the two Doctors. They would be lost in the void.

And Missy knew that she could do the same thing by combining with her counterpart—his Missy. He would not allow her to do that.

_You must, my love. You have more to live for_.

But they were the same. He had nothing more than she did.

_You see only my love for you. Look deeper._

The guilt. That dark spot of guilt hidden deep in her mind. It opened to him now. He could see a barn in the deserts of Gallifrey, a white-haired man leaning over a box—the Moment. And then—everything burning. The whole planet. _2.47 billion children_. _For what, my love?_

To save the universe. But you changed it. You went back and saved them.

And yet, he could see nothing but emptiness and loss. He could see three Masters standing around the Moment now—the white-haired man, a young man in a dark suit, and a woman in a long skirt. They stood around it, and still, the planet was destroyed.

She'd never saved it.

_I never saved it. There was never another way. _

But there was.

_Not for me. _

There was still time. She could still go back, fix something.

_It's gone, love. There's only me._

He was dying. The universe was dying. And Gallifrey—Gallifrey was dead to her.

_Let me save you. You have your home to find._

And so he let go. She surged forward, a bright light heating up the crushing darkness. Her light hit the other—his—Missy and for a moment shone so brightly that he was blinded.

And then everything went dark.


	10. Chapter 10

"So, what about that hyperjump-thingy?" Clara asked, circling around the console.

The Doctor stumbled against the console. The TARDIS. He was in the TARDIS. And there—there was Clara.

"Where is she?" he said. Missy. Where had she gone? She'd been so bright, shining there in his dying mind.

"Where is—who?"

He circled around the console, away from Clara. Of course. Everything had reverted. Clara didn't remember. "No one. Sorry. Hyperjump."

"You call it a she?"

"Yes. Problem?"

"No."

Missy was gone. She'd given her life for him. For his universe. In the end, in her own way, she had saved Gallifrey by saving his version of the universe.

Her whole universe would have been annihilated by the blast. An entire parallel timeline, wiped out in a single second. But it was inevitable. One universe or the other. One Doctor or the other. Only one could survive.

He pulled up the scanner. "It's gone. Closed up. Only there for a second. We'll have to try again some other time."

"Oh." Clara moved more slowly around the console and took his hand. "I'm sorry, Doctor. There'll be more chances. Maybe it wasn't Gallifrey anyway."

"You're right, it probably wasn't."

Missy hadn't found another way. That was what he couldn't wrap his head around. They had been the same in every respect, but when it came down to it, he had found another way to save the universe and the Master hadn't. She had still destroyed Gallifrey.

"You okay?" Clara was right in front of him now. Her eyes were doing the thing where they inflated.

"Don't do that. How do your eyes get so big?"

"Doctor. Are you okay?"

It was truly for the better that Clara didn't remember any of what had happened. It was for him and him alone. It was his lesson. The Master could never truly be good. There was always a catch.

"Yes, I am. I'm absolutely fine. You choose."

"I choose—what?"

"Where to next? All of time and space."

She grinned at him.

He allowed a smile back. All of time and space. This was what they did best. He and Clara, but also he and parallel Missy. He would miss her, but he would meet her again, he was sure of it. There was a spark of her in the Missy he knew. Just as there had been a spark of him in his parallel self.

He began to set the TARDIS controls for flight. He banished the thought of the Master from his mind as he whispered to himself, _"Until we meet again_._"_

* * *

And...that's all folks! Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review before you go, tell me what you thought of it. Thanks!


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